Divorced Love (Stauren) {Book 1}

Chapter 10

°•°Steven's POV°•°

Two days later and everything seemed to be going fine for Lauren, Bella, and I. The two of them had moved back into my house with the remains of their things, but most importantly, my daughter was no longer afraid of me. In fact, I felt that Bella and I were closer than ever, and the same with Lauren as well.

We had put our past behind us....or most of it at least.

I was soon snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of Norman's voice. The two of us had become more friends and hung out often while Bella and his son Mingus played together. Luckily Mingus was only a year older than Bella, making them the perfect playmates.

"Steven?" He asked, waving his hand in front of my zoned out face.

I turned my head to face him and lifted my eyebrows slightly. "Hmm? Sorry I just zoned out a bit....got lost in my own thoughts."

A small smirk appeared on his face. "Your thoughts about Lauren?"

"Maybe," I mumbled, and Norman nudged my shoulder lightly in a joking manner. My face soon gradually fell to a frown, my head hanging down slightly.

"What?" Norman must've noticed the look on my face. "You just got back together with Lauren, what could possibly be wrong?"

I let a sigh escape my lips as I glanced up to watch Bella play on the playground for a few seconds. "I don't know," I replied. "I guess I'm just worried about Lauren asking me why I divorced her."

"Why did you divorce her?" I looked at Norman when he spoke. "It's obvious that you've always loved her."

I then took a moment to gather up my thoughts before beginning the short story. "It was my parents," I began. "It wasn't that my parents didn't like Lauren, they have always really liked and approved of her. But back when we were married, my parents said that they were moving back to Korea, and that I had to come with them....without Lauren."

Norman gave me a confused look. "Why without her?" He asked.

"They never told me why." I explained. "Believe me, I begged and begged them to tell me why my wife couldn't come live with me in Korea. For some reason, they said Bella could come, but not Lauren." My eyes slowly drifted down to my shoes that I was slowly dragging through the dirt. "Since they were my parents, I finally accepted their no and knew that I had to go to Korea with them."

The next part was what hurt me the most to say.

"I didn't have the heart to tell Lauren that I was leaving with Bella to go across the country, so I didn't....I divorced her." Warm tears started to form in my eyes, but I kept them in. "What I didn't realize was divorcing her broke her heart even more than moving to Korea would've."

I used my hand to wipe my eyes, keeping my tears from falling. "It was until the custody trial that I realized....I couldn't go to Korea. There was no way I could just leave both Lauren and Bella, even though they hated me at the time."

"I'm sorry, man," Norman mumbled. "That's rough."

There was a small silence lingering between us until I finally spoke up and said, "But we're back together now....we're a family again."

Norman and I continued to have little conversations while sitting on the playground bench, watching our kids play and have fun.

I noticed Bella beginning to climb up onto the railing that went across the sides of the playground equipment.

"Isabella!" I yelled out, making her look my way. I gave her a look that said 'get down right now', and Bella quickly jumped off of the railing.

"Woah," Norman said. "She understands you with that look? You just have to give her one look, and she'll get down?"

"Yeah of course." Norman seemed surprised at my answer.

It was then when Mingus started to climb up the slide. This time, Norman yelled out, "Mingus Reedus, if you climb up that slide one more time I swear I'll never feed you again!"

Once Mingus got of the slide, Norman looked at me and said, "He understands me too."

I let out a chuckle and shook my head. "It seems like it."

•°•°•°•°•

"How was your day out with Bella, Norman, and Mingus?" Lauren asked later that night after Bella had gone to sleep.

"It was good," I replied with a smile while laying in bed.

Lauren was standing across the bedroom by the closet, changing out of her work uniform and getting into more comfy clothes. "Sorry I had to work again. They've been making me work weekends?" She tossed her clothes in a pile on the floor and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"It's okay, Laur." She smiled widely at my words. She had always loved it when I called her Laur. "How's being a waitress?"

Lauren let out a grunt, and plopped down onto the bed. "Boring, as always."

I lifted up the blankets, allowing her to crawl under them. I then instantly wrapped my arms around her waist, and pulled her towards me.

"What did you and Norman talk about?" She asked.

I hesitated for a moment, but soon responded. "About you," I whispered.

"Hmm, really?" She asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah," I replied.

I suddenly felt Lauren tense up, making me ask, "You okay?"

"Yeah um....I just have been meaning to ask you something." I became nervous after she spoke.

"What is it?"

"Why did you divorce me?"

That's when I told her....I told her everything.

A/N
A lot of you have been asking why Steven divorced Lauren, so here you go! :)